Howard Rests Cranky Knee as Phils Look for Rare Pittsburgh Series Win

Howard Rests Cranky Knee as Phils Look for Rare Pittsburgh Series Win

The Phils found some rare luck in Pittsburgh last night when they snapped the Pirates' nine-game win streak. They'll have two chances to take the series from our state rival tonight and during the day tomorrow. They'll have to do it with Ryan Howard on the bench this evening who is battling some knee pain.

Howard may have aggravated it when he put on the burners to score from first on a Delmon Young ball in the gap to cap off the three-run sixth that would eventually earn them the victory. While it may not be the most fluid thing in the world, watching the Big Piece truck is certainly something (video).

As CSN points out, this will be the third time in the last five games that Howard is not in the lineup. Hopefully a little rest will do him well.

Tonight's pitching matchup pits John Lannan against lefty Jeff Locke who is an impressive 7-1 with a 2.06 ERA on the season.

As for the Phils' futility at PNC:

Despite their win last night, Philadelphia is just 15-24 (.385) against the Pirates in Pittsburgh since PNC Park opened in 2001 ... The Phils have not won a series in Pittsburgh since April 25-27, 2008, and have lost each of their last four series here (4-9 in 13 games since 2009) ... Strangely, however, the Phillies have scored just two runs less than the Pirates in their 39 games all-time at PNC (168-170) ... Philadelphia’s starters are just 12-17 with a 4.09 ERA (104 ER,228.2 IP) at PNC over that span.

Don't forget the series will wrap up during the day tomorrow, so you can enjoy the Phils' radio broadcast at 1:35 while you lay on the beach. The Phils then come home for a nice long homestand that kicks off against the rival Braves. It's crunch time in South Philly.

In cruel twist, former Eagle Byron Maxwell one of NFL's top corners now

In cruel twist, former Eagle Byron Maxwell one of NFL's top corners now

Remember how excited you were when the Eagles signed Byron Maxwell to a huge free-agent contract in 2015? Remember how much more excited you were this past April when the team traded Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to the Dolphins to move up five spots in the first round of the NFL draft?

Well, as it turns out, Maxwell may not have been the dog most everybody in Philadelphia seemed to think he was. At least, the sixth-year veteran is having a good enough season in Miami to boast without a hint of irony that he's the best cornerback in the league, and smart writer-types like Armando Salguero for the Miami Herald are actually buying it.

Maxwell's performance this season has him so filled with confidence, he's going right after Cardinals All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson for an imaginary title.

“Man, listen, if he wants to say that, he can say that. I’m pretty sure he believes that,” Maxwell said of Peterson being the best. “Just like I believe I’m the best.

“Nothing against him, he is a great cornerback. The answer depends on who you ask.”

The answer might depend who you ask, but pretty sure the only people who would respond with "Byron Maxwell" are Maxwell himself and maybe a few people in his family. I'm not even sure Maxwell's own mother would proclaim him the best corner in the NFL.

This isn't just Philly picking a bone with Maxwell either, a free-agent bust who the team couldn't wait to unload this offseason. While his attitude was questionable and he had little chance of ever living up to the six-year contract worth $63 million the Eagles gave him in the offseason, Maxwell actually got a little bit of unfair shake here. He made terrible first and last impressions, but was okay in between.

Whether he's one of the best corners in the NFL or not though, it turns out the Eagles probably could've used him this year. Leodis McKelvin is terrible, Nolan Carroll isn't much better, Ron Brooks is on injured reserve and the defense has had to ask way too much of seventh-round draft pick Jalen Mills.

It's just another example of how the Eagles improperly prepared at the position heading into this season. Trading Maxwell and then Eric Rowe to the Patriots as well — two players that accounted for 19 starts in 2015 — left the club little room for error with regard to how they filled those jobs.

The sad thing is, both Maxwell and Rowe are probably better than anything the Eagles have, and Maxwell in particular gets to go around bragging about how he's the best in the league. It's a gut punch to be certain, and amid an Eagles season increasingly filled with them.

Right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai (knee) is the only player who has been ruled out.

Ryan Mathews, who has missed the past two games with an MCL sprain, was a full participant on both Wednesday and Thursday. “Today, we’re going to back [Mathews] down just a touch, so we can keep him ready to go for Sunday,” head coach Doug Pederson said on Friday morning.

Jordan Matthews missed the Bengals game after injuring his ankle against the Packers. It was the first missed game of his career. Matthews was a limited participant on Wednesday for precautionary reasons, according to Pederson.

“[Matthews] was great on Thursday and no setbacks,” Pederson said. “He made it through practice. We look forward to having him a good day again today.”

It seems a little more likely that Matthews and Mathews will be able to play on Sunday than Green-Beckham.

Green-Beckham, who hurt his mid-section during the loss to the Bengals, wasn't able to practice on Wednesday or Thursday. Still, earlier in the week, Pederson said he thought DGB would be able to play this weekend.

“He’s still on that path,” Pederson said Friday. “He worked yesterday a little bit. It’s still sore. I want to see where he’s going to be today before making a full decision on him. I don’t want to risk having a guy out there that’s not 100 percent.”

With Green-Beckham and Matthews banged up, it looks like the Eagles will go into this game with just three fully healthy wide receivers – Nelson Agholor, Bryce Treggs and Paul Turner.

Pederson said there’s no immediate plan to sign another receiver to the 53-man roster.

So what’s the plan at wideout? The same thing the Eagles did last week.

“Well, I’ll probably lean more on the tight ends,” Pederson said. “Trey [Burton] has kind of taken that role the last couple of weeks. Trey Burton and Zach [Ertz] and Brent [Celek]. That’d be the direction we’d go.”